Advanced Television

New Chelsea online TV, but will anyone watch?

August 27, 2010


Chelsea FC has launched a online TV portal for the 2010/11 season, with new and exclusive content from its Sky channel, Chelsea TV. The portal, produced and maintained for Chelsea by sports media specialist Perform, will include interviews, live press conferences and behind-the-scenes features on the football club.
Content from Chelsea TV, previously only available to Sky subscribers, will now be available to Chelsea club members through the portal.It will not carry third-party advertising.
Fans can also use social networking tools to chat to each other.

However, new research shows a distinct lack of appetite for internet streaming of football matches, just as the Football League looks to the web for new revenue streams. Just 2% of respondents in a joint YouGov and SMG Insight survey of 2,122 British adults said they were likely to stream football over a home computer, despite a concerted effort among broadcasters and football clubs to generate revenue from football fans consuming media online.
A third of 18- to 34-year-olds said they plan to watch Barclays Premier League games outside the home this season, with 23% opting for a pub or club and 11% saying they are most likely to watch the game at a friend’s house.
Leeds United is one of the first UK football clubs to introduce a pilot scheme enabling overseas pay-per-view online viewing of games, as the club made Saturday’s nPower Championship match against Millwall available to viewers in South Africa, Germany and Spain.
The broadcaster ESPN has launched a mobile application featuring Barclays Premier League highlights, while BSkyB also plans to stream 115 games live via its Mobile TV service.
Yahoo also bought rights to host online highlights of Barclays Premier League games for the next three seasons, with big-name brands such as Heineken, BT, Adidas and Sony Pictures booking advertising around the exclusive content.

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